Extraterrestrial construction materials

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), together with the European Space Agency (ESA), revealed plans to resume manned exploration missions and to establish permanent human presence in outposts (habitats) on the Moon and Mars by 2040. In order to promote feasible and sustainable space exploration, these habitats are envisioned to be built from lunar and Martian in-situ resources. Our understanding of such indigenous resources, from materials science, construction and structural engineering points of view, is lacking and continues to hinder further development of Earth-independent habitats. In order to bridge this knowledge gap, a comprehensive assessment on the physical features and property characteristics of extraterrestrial construction materials such as those exploited from the Moon and Mars, mined from near-earth objects (NEOs), or cultured through modern technologies is presented herein. This review explores the suitability of construction materials derived from lunar and Martian regolith along with concrete derivatives, space-native metals and composites, as well as advanced and non-traditional materials for interplanetary construction. This review also identifies processing techniques suitable to produce non-terrestrial construction materials in the alien environment of space (i.e. vacuum, low gravity, etc.) and highlights emerging trends and future directions to stimulate further research in this area.